Procurement Lead

About the Role

VESSL is building the specialized AI cloud for the teams pushing AI forward: frontier labs, physical AI companies, and research institutions. In the US, demand is outrunning the capacity we can stand up. In a GPU cloud business, the constraint is rarely the customer. It is power, space, hardware, and the capital to bring them together on time.

This role exists to remove that constraint. You will lead all US procurement for VESSL: where capacity comes from, how it is financed, which vendors earn our trust, and when it comes online.

As the first hire on our US Supply team, you will run each deal yourself end to end: finding the right partners, closing the deal, overseeing delivery, and running the contract after signing. As volume grows, you will build the team that takes it to scale.

You sit in our global Supply function, reporting to our Chief Strategy Officer, who leads supply globally. Based in our US office, you will partner closely with our global supply team, US sales, product, infrastructure, and finance.

What You'll Own

Source and Secure Supply

• Map the US data center value chain end to end: energy and power, data center developers and operators, OEMs and hardware partners, and the capital backers behind them

• Source new capacity and onboard new supply partners

• Verify offered capacity and delivery timelines before anything moves to negotiation

• Build relationships that give VESSL first look at capacity before it reaches the open market

• Own US capacity milestones: the right GPUs, in the right sites, on the timeline our customers and roadmap require

Qualify Every Vendor

• Design and run vendor due diligence: financial health, ownership and capital structure, hardware provenance, operational track record, and contract risk

• Run technical due diligence with Engineering: cluster specs, networking, and storage

• Set and enforce VESSL's reliability qualification bar for data center partners, starting at Tier III standards for power, cooling, redundancy, and network

• Set PoC scope and acceptance criteria before any commitment

• Build a repeatable procurement playbook so every deal clears the same bar

Finance the Capacity

• Structure how each capacity commitment is funded, and model its unit economics before we sign

• Build relationships with financial partners and negotiate financing terms alongside our Chief Strategy Officer

• Partner with Finance to turn available capital into a deployable compute plan

• Structure deal funding terms that balance speed of delivery against cash exposure

Run Sourcing End to End

• Define requirements for each deal: GPU model, node count, networking, and storage

• Issue RFIs, compare quotes, and select partners

• Negotiate commercial terms: pricing, contract term, payment structure, and risk allocation

• Negotiate and execute MSAs, SLAs, and order forms, and handle KYC with HQ Legal and Finance

• Agree on delivery schedules and milestones with each partner

Keep Operations Running

• Track progress and manage delivery, cutover, and acceptance testing

• Verify monthly invoices and settle payments

• Monitor SLAs and claim credits when partners fall short

• Negotiate renewals and expansions

Run the Pipeline

• Own a single view of the US capital pipeline and compute pipeline: sourced, in diligence, in negotiation, financed, contracted, and live

• Partner with US sales on supply and demand matching, translating demand signals into sourcing priorities so supply is secured ahead of the deals that need it

• Report US capacity, pipeline, and capital status to HQ and leadership on a weekly and monthly cadence, with risks surfaced while they are still fixable

• Align with our global supply team on shared standards, supplier coverage, and capacity planning

Who We Expect

• 7+ years of experience, including at least 2 years in investment banking or consulting, and hands-on work in the data center or cloud space

• Track record leading data center, colocation, hardware, or financing agreements with real dollars at stake

• Able to translate technical requirements into commercial terms and contract language

• Hands-on experience with billing, settlement, and SLA management after signing

• A working map of the data center value chain, from power to operations to OEMs to the capital behind them, and the judgment to tell a reliable partner from a risky one

• Diligence instincts: you verify claims, underwrite counterparties, and build processes that catch problems before they become contracts

• Builder mindset: you have hired and led a team, or you are ready to build one from scratch

• On site, San Francisco

Nice to Have

• Hands-on experience negotiating MSAs, SLAs, and DPAs

• Hands-on experience in data center operations, deployment, or colocation, including power, cooling, rack density, and GPU networking

• Understanding of NVIDIA GPU systems such as HGX and GB200 NVL72, their configurations, and build lead times

• Experience designing benchmark and acceptance test criteria

• An existing network across the compute and data center ecosystem

• Fluency in infrastructure finance: how capital flows into infrastructure assets, how it is underwritten, and how financing terms shape unit economics

• AI native: you use tools like Claude to multiply your output, model scenarios, and run diligence faster

What We Offer

The range we've posted represents the typical compensation range for this role. To determine actual compensation, we review the market rate for each candidate which can include a variety of factors. These include qualifications, experience, interview performance.

• Base Salary : $180,000 ~ $ 210,000 per year

• Perks

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Basic Life and AD&D insurance

• 401(k) retirement Savings plan

• Unlimited Vacation

Interview Process

Application Review → Initial Screen → Hiring Manager Screen → Culture-Fit Interview (2 rounds)→ CEO Interview → Offer